Posted: October 10, 2025
Rapid City
Agenda Item Summary

Agenda Item Ref. #: PW101425-12

Agenda Item Title:

Introduction and first reading of AN ORDINANCE PROMOTING PEDESTRIAN SAFETY AND THE ORDERLY FLOW OF TRAFFIC BY PROHIBITING PEDESTRIANS FROM OCCUPYING CERTAIN MEDIANS BY ADDING SECTION 12.12.140 TO THE RAPID CITY MUNICIPAL CODE.

Origination Group:
Public Works Committee
Origination Meeting Date:
10/14/2025
City Council Hearing Date:
10/20/2025
City Council First Reading Date:
10/20/2025
City Council Second Reading Date:
11/03/2025
Staff Contact:
Joel Landeen, City Attorney; Matt Layman, Traffic Engineer
Agenda Item Summary:
This ordinance is being brought forward to promote pedestrian safety. The ordinance is based on the premise that if a median is going to be used by pedestrians there are standards for how they should be designed so that they are reasonably safe for the pedestrians to use. There are a number of medians in the City which do not meet these standards and are not safe for pedestrians to occupy. The number of pedestrian fatalities has been increasing nationally for a number of years and the federal government has been implementing programs promoting measures to make roadways safer. The Federal Highway Administration has a guiding paradigm called the Safe System Approach. This is a road safety strategy that assumes deaths and serious injuries are unacceptable and aims to eliminate them by creating a road system that is safe for vulnerable users, accounting for human error and the physical limits of the human body, and promoting shared responsibility for safety. The proposed ordinance is consistent with the Safe System approach and promotes safety by explicitly prohibiting all pedestrians from occupying roadway medians which do not incorporate safety and design features that protect pedestrians and which were not designed for that purpose.

Funding Source & Fiscal Impact (if applicable):

Funding Cost Center
Funding Source & Fiscal Impact Notes:
https://www.rcgov.org/index.php?option=com_docman&view=download&alias=35695-pw101425-12-ordinance-to-amend-12-12-140&category_slug=25-10-14&Itemid=149

Recommendations:

Origination Recommendation Action:
Approve

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